Cable connectors are used to join cables to other cables, for example by cable splicing, or to terminal bodies. By securing the cables within the connector by fasteners such as screws or bolts, the requirement for additional fastening devices in assembling the connection may be disposed of.
A particular type of cable connectors is one that is adapted for low and medium voltage power lines, such as in electrical grids. These cable connectors can be adapted for fasteners such as shearing screws which clamp the cable to the cable connector so that an electric connection is formed within the cable connector. For this purpose, the cable connector itself can be conductive to so that the electric current from the cable can be conducted through the connector. Shearing screws are particularly useful for certain types of installations including, for example, underground cables and installations where long-term durability is important and there is no need to repeatedly screw and unscrew the connectors.
Some of the existing shearing screws involve two-phase operation, where the screw is inserted into the cable connector and, in the first phase, tightened until a desired pressure is exerted on the cable. In the second phase the screw is sheared off, which in some concepts may be performed by using the structural features of the screw itself and the support from the connector body to direct the shearing force into the shearing screw. As the purpose of such screws, in the first place, is to simplify the installation, it is important that they can be used with ease and that they function reliably so that the pressure exerted by the screw on a cable, which is determined by the properties of the screw itself, is well-defined and the screw functions consistently upon installation. For these ends, it is likewise important that the manufacturing process of the screw can be controlled to produce consistently functioning screws as already small imperfections in the manufacturing process may cause the shearing screw become unusable, for example if the first phase of operation for the screw, i.e. the tightening phase, is not terminated properly and the pressure exerted on the cable consequently becomes too high or too low.